HP's Memory Spot Chip

Iddo Genuth writes, "HP Labs recently revealed a prototype of the Memory Spot Chip, a tiny wireless chip capable of storing and transmitting data. When it hits the market in about 2-3 years, the new chip will enable a variety of applications ranging from digital wristbands that store patient medical information to sound bytes on paper or printed pictures that can be accessed using a reader-equipped device. The article has an interview with Howard Taub of HP Labs and some photos of the prototype chip." The chip can only be read at a distance of 1 mm, so it avoids many of the privacy concerns of RFID. It has about 1000 times the storage capacity and 100-1000 times the data transfer rate of RFID.

Comments

If so close, then why even wireless?

[businessnerd]

The chip can only be read at a distance of 1 mm, so it avoids many of the privacy concerns of RFID.

If they are going to make it so that you have to be 1mm away to read the signal, then why not just make a contact point and do away with the wireless function all together. This would truly avoid the privacy concerns and would function just the same. What's 1 more milimeter of distance anyway?

It seems everything these days needs to be wireless in order to be considered a hot new item. This is like making a "contactless pen." Instead of having to press the pen against the paper to write, you can hover the pen less than 1mm away from the paper.

Re:If so close, then why even wireless?

[Crimson Wing]

Because if you don't have to have metal-to-metal contact to transfer data, you can have something over it (say, cloth or plastic) for physical protection or concealment and still be able to read the thing by touching whatever's over it. You'd still touch the reader to something, but it doesn't have to be the storage device itself.

Anywho, there was another article about this thing a couple of months ago. I'd look it up, but I've got a bunch of other stuff to do and for some stupid reason my modem (yes, I'm still on dial-up) won't connect at more than 26.4kbps. I don't feel like arguing with it any more than I have to.

Re:If so close, then why even wireless?

[patrixmyth]

Even if it required contact, then it would still be wireless. As long as it doesn't connect by a wire, then it's wireless. To address your point directly however, I assume that the point of allowing it to work with a 1mm distance is to allow it to be enclosed within other materials. For instance, you could put one inside packaging or a protective cover and still allow a reader to access the information. I would love to see nutritional information put into this sort of thing so that grocery shopping could go a bit faster. This would help in comparing the sugar content of drinks or cereal, for instance, or to check for allergans.

Re:If so close, then why even wireless?

[a_nonamiss]

You miss the crucial point. If you make it a maximum distance of 1mm, you can enclose the chip in plastic or some other water-proof material. This is the same philosophy as making rechargable items that charge by induction. (Such as electric razors, toothbrushes, etc.) Induction (as it's implemented in these devices) is very inefficient and only works over a very short distnace, however, they can completely seal the plastic case of the device to eliminate the possibility that water can get in there. (Water + electricity = sadness) If they have a "wireless" device, even if it only works over 1mm, that is still enough to completely encase the device in plastic so that it can withstand the elements. You may still need to touch the device to the reader, but the radio signal travels through the 1mm of plastic it's encased in.

Because contacts wear

[bruce_the_loon]

A wireless device like this can provide a more reliable mechanism than something with a contact. Contacts wear out over time, and even if the time period is short enough to make wear irrelevant, static buildup or incorrect voltages on the reader device could blow the device when you make contact with it.

And finally, unless you're extending an antenna via the contact, you will need more than one contact to make a usable circuit with the reader. On something as small as a Memory Dot, that could be nigh on impossible to achieve with any regularity. Stores hate it when UPC barcodes don't scan first time. Imagine how annoyed they'd be if they have to try three or four times to contact the memory dot.